Andrew Strauss - Not a bad start, chap.

[social]

Gilchrist is considered the greatest keeper-batsmen by many now, but not when he was first selected.

And Strauss' FC record might suggest to you that his candle will go out soon, but his temperament and his technique and approach to the game suggest otherwise to me.

Averaging 44 in England of all places!

Andy Bichel got a century in the Championship!

Mike Hussey (who bats at 6 & 7 for Australia A) scores 200s & 300s on a regular basis)!

Graham Hick is the world's best batsman at County level.

Need I say more.

BTW, I didnt say that Strauss would fail soon - only that his record suggests he is playing above himself ATM

I, for one, hope he continues to be successful as the cricket world does not need another one-sided Ashes.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Ok, let's take an unrealistically short-sighted view of the world and concentrate on the last 12 months only.

Hayden would not make a World X1 on this criteria.

Strauss is one of the 2 or 3 best batsmen of all-time but, even so, would not make a World X1 as Langer and Sehwag have scored runs against better opponents.

Vaughan and Tendulkar should be dropped from their respective Test sides.

Murali's records need to be extinguished from the game as he has been scientifically proven to throw one of his major deliveries.

Pollock is a medium pace draft horse.

I hope your finally starting to see how ridiculous your arguments seem.

Finally, your comments on Hayden make me think that you havent seen him bat.

He is 6ft 4in, bats a couple of feet outside the crease, and plays predominantly off the front foot. Therefore, he is ALWAYS going to get the benefit of the doubt more than most when it comes to LBW decisions.

Hayden has been, and remains, one of the 3 or 4 most feared batsmen in the world.

As I said before, a career should be analysed from a standpoint of more than 12 months.

At this stage, Strauss' career, whilst off to a fantastic start, is only in its' infancy.

Thank you. Well put.

 

[twctopcat]

I, for one, hope he continues to be successful as the cricket world does not need another one-sided Ashes.

Strauss won't save the ashes anyway, just see Vaughan from last time, out on his own. It's about time some of the other english batsmen took a leaf out of his book.

 

[Mr Casson]

Averaging 44 in England of all places!

Andy Bichel got a century in the Championship!

Mike Hussey (who bats at 6 & 7 for Australia A) scores 200s & 300s on a regular basis)!

Graham Hick is the world's best batsman at County level.

Need I say more.

BTW, I didnt say that Strauss would fail soon - only that his record suggests he is playing above himself ATM

I, for one, hope he continues to be successful as the cricket world does not need another one-sided Ashes.

Bichel is a pretty handy batsman. Ashley Noffke hit a FC century in Australia... It happens occasionally, regardless of the country.

Michael Hussey is a very, VERY good batsman, and don't you ever forget that. He's just about the best batsman in the world who hasn't played a test. It is no surprise that he scores big so often because of his immense talent. And why the disparity between his results in Australia? It could simply be that the conditions favour his style of play in England.

Graham Hick was found out at test level for a reason other than his talent, obviously. Perhaps he didn't have the temperament or the attitude needed. Strauss has the mental game pinned down better than many cricketers.

 

[social]

Graham Hick was found out at test level for a reason other than his talent, obviously. Perhaps he didn't have the temperament or the attitude needed. Strauss has the mental game pinned down better than many cricketers.

It was because of mental attitude AND technique.

Unfortunately, it's common knowledge that there are too many fist-class teams in England. Steps have been taken to address this situation, but it's still not enough.

Strauss looks a very good player but he's only played test cricket in 2 countries and, for example, is yet to face a world-class spinner.

Give the guy timeand dont do what the Poms do to their football team - create unrealistic expectations and then criticise them unmercifully when they are not met.

 

[tooextracool]

Hardly his fault when every cricketing board is obessed with producing with flat wickets is it?

of course not, but as an opener(certainly as the 'supposedly best opener in the world'), i expect him to be at least capable when he plays on seamer friendly wickets.

 

[tooextracool]

I do believe he got a 100 their against New Zealand on a wicket which looked like it would assist the seam bowlers,

that was certainly not seamer friendly, even brett lee managed to get 60 odd in the same inning.

and on the first day of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, that pitch had assistence for seam bowlers, and had England actually bowled a lot better then what they had and had Michael Vaugh and co had learnt how to field they could have taken a few wickets, and Hayden got a hundred. .

so much so in fact that till today almost everyone gets on hussains back for not batting first on perfect batting conditions?

 

[tooextracool]

You mean the series where he destroyed England..
The series where Australia retained the Ashes in 11 days.
Ah yes! Thank-you for destroying your own argument.

australia has destroyed england in almost every series in the last 15 years, as sad as it sounds. whats your point? have i claimed that england were better? and just so you know i was referring to the series in england and was talking about hayden's performances, not the team's.

 

[tooextracool]

Hayden is an opener, and as such is always facing seam and swing. And he's scored plenty of runs doing it too.

which is precisely the point, as an opener he has been fortunate enough to not have done the above often enough. when he has hes failed.

 

[tooextracool]

Graham Hick is the world's best batsman at County level.

the reason why graeme hick has a high average is because hes actually a good player at the county level.

 

[tooextracool]

Strauss won't save the ashes anyway, just see Vaughan from last time, out on his own. It's about time some of the other english batsmen took a leaf out of his book.

theres always robert!
makes his performance in the current test look all the more better after what we've seen today.

 

[tooextracool]

Strauss looks a very good player but he's only played test cricket in 2 countries and, for example, is yet to face a world-class spinner.

precisely, thats my only doubt about strauss thats left, but it seems more and more unlikely the way he plays that he can have problems against spin bowling.

 

[Mr Casson]

precisely, thats my only doubt about strauss thats left, but it seems more and more unlikely the way he plays that he can have problems against spin bowling.

It could go either way... He plays the ball so late that I can see him being a candidate for LBW to good spin bowling. However, playing so late may be an advantage for him to be able to read the ball off the wicket. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[tooextracool]

well he seems to play with soft hands and has relatively good footwork. personally i think playing the ball late is something that is useful against spinners rather than detrimental.

 

[Mr Casson]

well he seems to play with soft hands and has relatively good footwork. personally i think playing the ball late is something that is useful against spinners rather than detrimental.

Yeah for sure.. I was saying I think it could go either way. It really depends what shots he's trying to play when he goes on the back foot to the spinners... Trying to whip spinners away on the leg side can be a big risk when you go back, but he tends to hit those more to the off-side, so he usually gets at least a bit of bat on it.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

precisely, thats my only doubt about strauss thats left, but it seems more and more unlikely the way he plays that he can have problems against spin bowling.

With all due credit given to Strauss's recent performances, he still hasn't played in conditions unfamiliar to him or against a genuinely strong bowling attack. There's no doubt he looks a quality player, but until after the Ashes and his first subcontinent tour we won't really know if he's world class or not, which is why it is ludicrous to suggest that he's proven himself to be better than Hayden or Langer.

Hayden took apart India on turning wickets in 2001, and Langer played two magnificent innings in 2004, firstly making 140 odd against Murali in Sri Lanka, and then a near double hundred against Shoaib in Perth. Strauss has not had a comparable test yet.

 

[Mr Casson]

He's absolutely mauled the South African bowlers and they are quality, FaaipDeOiad. A rejuvenated Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boke, Langeveldt (only played the one match admittedly but he bowled superbly).

 

[tooextracool]

With all due credit given to Strauss's recent performances, he still hasn't played in conditions unfamiliar to him or against a genuinely strong bowling attack. There's no doubt he looks a quality player, but until after the Ashes and his first subcontinent tour we won't really know if he's world class or not, which is why it is ludicrous to suggest that he's proven himself to be better than Hayden or Langer.

Hayden took apart India on turning wickets in 2001, and Langer played two magnificent innings in 2004, firstly making 140 odd against Murali in Sri Lanka, and then a near double hundred against Shoaib in Perth. Strauss has not had a comparable test yet.

ive never actually said that he was better than langer, but as ive shown earlier, hayden isnt proven on seamer friendly wickets. so if strauss were to fail to conditions unfamiliar to him he would simply be pulling off a hayden.

 

[twctopcat]

theres always robert!
makes his performance in the current test look all the more better after what we've seen today.

Very true!! Vaughan may well return from the depths, hope springs eternal.

 

[social]

precisely, thats my only doubt about strauss thats left, but it seems more and more unlikely the way he plays that he can have problems against spin bowling.

Impossible to say at this stage.

Murali, Warne, Kumble, Harbijhan, Kaneria, and MacGill are in a totally different class to anything he has faced before.

Remember, even someone like Ponting, who'll end up as an all-time great, struggled against spinners in their own conditions.

However, if he attempts to play, say, Warne in the way that he has been playing Boje (in a stagnant position on the crease waiting for the inevitable bad ball) history would say that he'll go the way of everyone else that has tried the same thing.